APPLICATION PACK FOR 2017

Right now we are looking for talented graduates to join our 2017 orchestra and embark
on a life-changing experience that promises to transform your prospects.
Every year, we invite 33 players from all over the world to be part of Southbank Sinfonia, undertaking an intensive
ten-month programme, designed to prepare you for all aspects of professional musical life. We are looking for
musicians who not only have talent but dedication, team spirit, imagination and willingness to explore and embrace
new ideas.
To be eligible, you should play one of the following orchestral instruments to a high standard and have completed an
undergraduate or postgraduate music degree either at music college or university, or achieved an equivalent musical
qualification:

Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass

Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon

Horn
Trumpet
Percussion

We are often asked if it is possible to be in Southbank Sinfonia while still studying at music college or university. Owing
to the intensity of the programme, this is not normally practical so we strongly recommend you wait and apply to join
the programme once you have graduated. Please see Frequently Asked Questions for more information about this.
You must submit a completed application form by Monday 4 July 2016. Selected applicants are then invited to
audition in September and interview in October.
This pack is your simple step-by-step guide to completing your initial application and the rest of the process. Please
take the time to read it fully.
If you have any queries about the programme
or the audition process, please do not
hesitate to contact us via auditions@
southbanksinfonia.co.uk or you are welcome
to call one of our team on 020 7921 0370
who will be very happy to give advice.

I truly believe the experience

I gained with Southbank
Sinfonia was fundamental to
my professional success.
NUNO CARAPINA (2013)
Violin, RLPO

YOUR APPLICATION
To apply, the following items:

a completed application form

your up-to-date CV
a photograph of yourself
some recent footage of you playing your instrument (see below for more details)

must be emailed to:

auditions@southbanksinfonia.co.uk
by the closing date:

12:00 noon (British Summer Time) on Monday 4 July 2016

Please ensure your email includes all the above items. We regret that we cannot accept late or incomplete
applications.
The subject heading of your email should simply be:
Instrument - Forename Surname
For example:
Clarinet Sarah Smith

APPLICATION FORM
You can download a copy of our application form here.
As demand for places is high, we regret that we cannot audition everyone who applies. We therefore strongly
recommend that you take time to complete the application form in detail, giving the best possible representation of
yourself. Your application form must be written in English.
In the Referees section, please provide the details for two people who we may contact for their view of your
accomplishments and potential as a musician. Please notify them that you are providing their details. The first should
be your most recent teacher; the second may be someone who has employed you as a musician, such as an orchestra
manager, fixer or promoter, or another teacher. For Role, please state what they do for a living.
Please save your application form as a PDF before emailing it to us.

CV
Please ensure your CV is up-to-date, written entirely in English, no more than two A4 pages, and outlines your relevant
musical experience. Please save your CV as a PDF before emailing it to us.
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PHOTOGRAPH
This should be a clear, recent image of you (ideally a headshot), in .jpg format.

FOOTAGE
To aid our selection process before auditions, we ask all applicants to submit some recent filmed footage of you
playing either a piece of solo or accompanied classical repertoire. This is simply to assure us that your basic musical
ability is equivalent to the accomplishments detailed in your CV. You can either specially film it or it can be from a
solo performance you have recently filmed, such as a final recital. The footage should be no longer than 5 minutes. If
your excerpt is longer than 5 minutes, please specify the section within it (give precise times) that you would like us to
observe. Please ensure it is of good quality and accurately represents your ability as a musician.
Please note we cannot accept purely audio recordings; it must be filmed footage.
Percussionists should submit footage of you playing timpani: for this, we will accept an ensemble or orchestral
performance so long you are clearly visible and audible. Alternatively, we recommend you film yourself playing a short
portion of the timpani part from an orchestral piece.
You should upload the footage to the internet using YouTube, Vimeo or equivalent which makes it instantly accessible
(rather than something that requires a download or password), then send us one hyperlink to it in the body of your
application email. Here you should also let us know the composer and title of the piece you are playing.
The footage should remain fully accessible online until the end of our recruitment process in November. Before sending
us the link, please check that your footage is definitely visible, ensuring that you have deactivated privacy settings so
that we can view it easily.
If there is any reason why your circumstances may not enable you to submit filmed footage as described above, please
contact us on 020 7921 0370 or auditions@southbanksinfonia.co.uk.

TIPS FOR FOOTAGE

You do not have to submit a professional, studio produced video. The most important thing is that your playing is well
represented. If you are specially filming for your application, there are a few easy tips to consider when creating your
footage which will help present yourself in the best possible way.
Use a room with a good acoustic
If using a digital camera or phone camera, consider using an external microphone to best capture the sound
Listen back with a good pair of headphones to check you are happy with the sound quality. It doesnt have to be of
professional quality, but should allow the listener to easily and clearly hear your playing
Use a tripod so your footage is stable
Ensure that you can be seen in the frame, not so close that any of you is cropped out but not too far back either.
We need to be able to clearly see that it is you playing

RE-APPLYING
If you have applied in previous years, you are warmly welcome to apply again many of our players achieve places after
applying more than once but please ensure you tell us in your form what new things you have done musically and
how you have progressed since your last application.

NOTIFICATION
Once we have received your complete application, we will send you confirmation by email within a few days. You will
then hear within a month of the closing date if we are able to invite you for an audition in September.
As all correspondence about applying to Southbank Sinfonia is by email, it is worth you taking the time now to ensure
emails from Southbank Sinfonia especially from the addresses auditions@southbanksinfonia.co.uk and
alison@southbanksinfonia.co.uk are approved in your spam filter settings. We also recommend you regularly check
your junk mail folder to ensure no emails from us accidentally end up there.

Hard work and perseverance pays off! I didnt

get a place in Southbank Sinfonia first time,
but when I reapplied it was absolutely worth
the effort: Amazing orchestral projects from
Baroque music to contemporary and jazz,
collaborations with leading orchestras, tours,
audition masterclasses, and performing in
great concert halls in London and beyond.
PEDRO LOPEZ CAMPOS (2015)
Flute

AUDITIONS
On the basis of the information you provide in your application, selected applicants will be invited to attend an audition
and interview in London. If you are applying from Australia or New Zealand, it is possible this year to be auditioned
locally: this entails the same musical requirements as for London, but please see the separate section below for further
information. If, in exceptional circumstances, it is absolutely not possible for you to audition in London, Australia or
New Zealand, but would still like to be considered, please contact auditions@southbanksinfonia.co.uk giving details of
your situation and where you are located, well in advance of the closing date.
Auditions take place in September 2016 at our base St Johns Waterloo in central London. If selected for audition,
you will be notified individually of the actual date you are required to attend. We aim to make auditions a friendly and
welcoming experience for all candidates. Each panel comprises several colleagues from Southbank Sinfonia plus a
specialist player from the forefront of the music profession.
Candidates are asked to prepare the following pieces for audition. On the day, you will have the chance to run through
key passages of your repertoire very briefly with one of our accompanists before the audition, or you may bring your
own accompanist.
You will also be sent a set of short orchestral extracts in advance which we recommend you familiarise yourself with
fully prior to the audition. In addition, there will be a short piece of sight reading on the day.

INSTRUMENT

PIECES

Violin

1st movement of a Mozart Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Viola

1st movement of the Hoffmeister or Stamitz Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Cello

1st movement of a Haydn Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Bass

1st movement of a Classical Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Flute

1st movement of a Mozart Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Oboe

1st movement of the Mozart Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Clarinet

1st movement of a Mozart Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Bassoon

1st movement of a Mozart Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Horn

1st movement of a Mozart Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Trumpet

1st movement of the Haydn or Hummel Concerto

A contrasting accompanied piece

Percussion

A piece of your choice for solo marimba

You should know the whole 1st movement of your concerto and contrasting piece as the panel may ask you to play
several passages. Please note you do not have to prepare the cadenza of your concerto movement unless you
personally want to.
Candidates will be notified of the outcome of auditions by the end of September, and select individuals will then be
asked back to participate in a short interview (see below).

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND AUDITIONS

If you are applying from Australia, this year we will have a day of auditions hosted on our behalf by the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra in central Sydney on Friday 12 August 2016. These will be filmed for consideration by the
London panel. If you are applying from New Zealand, we will also have a day of auditions in Dunedin with our Music
Director Simon Over between 24 September and 1 October 2016. To be considered for these, you should submit your
application in the usual way by Monday 4 July.

Southbank Sinfonia gave me the

professional experience needed
to get auditions and trials, and
the confidence to do them.

GUN JNASDTTIR (2014)

Cello

INTERVIEWS
Interviews take place at our base St Johns Waterloo in London in early October 2016 though it is possible for the
interview to be conducted via Skype if you are not resident in the UK. The interview will be with several members of the
Southbank Sinfonia team.
At interview, we will want to hear more about your musical interests and aspirations, and what you would like to achieve
in the year ahead. It is also your opportunity to ask us questions and find out more about the Southbank Sinfonia
experience. Each interview lasts approximately 20 minutes.
Following interviews, candidates will be notified by the end of October whether they have been successful in attaining a
place in Southbank Sinfonia.

TIPS FOR INTERVIEWS

We aim to make interviews a friendly, positive experience so rest assured we wont be testing you on anything
You dont require your instrument at this stage and do not need to bring anything else with you though it may
be useful to bring your diary with you to interview, as the panel will ask you about potential engagements for the
following year
We recommend you take the time to familiarise yourself with how Southbank Sinfonia runs in advance of the
interview; you can find lots of information on our website, including a Frequently Asked Questions page, or by
talking to anyone you may know who has been in the orchestra previously
This is the ideal opportunity for you to ask the panel anything that is specific to your circumstances or not already
answered by the website

FEEDBACK
Although we can only grant 33 places in the orchestra each year, we are keen to help others who have applied. As
noted above, many of our players achieve places after applying more than once, so we want to give you the best
chance possible to succeed in future years. Anyone attending auditions or interviews is welcome to request feedback
on their progress so far and we will aim to give you some insightful and constructive thoughts that we hope will be of
use to you.
If you would like feedback, please email auditions@southbanksinfonia.co.uk with the following subject heading:
Feedback Instrument Forename Surname
Owing to the orchestras commitments and because we want to take the time to send you helpful and focused
thoughts, it can sometimes be a few weeks before we can send you feedback, so thank you for your patience.
If you have any further queries about the programme or the audition process, please do not hesitate to contact us on
auditions@southbanksinfonia.co.uk or you are welcome to call one of our team on 020 7921 0370 who will be very
happy to give advice.
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